How Far We've Come
by Virginia Potts
Summary: "I do anything and everything that Mr Stark requires. Including, occasionally, taking out the trash."


**Author's Note: I in no way claim to own any of the Iron Man characters, sadly, and fortunately, Marvel already does that.**

_Oh my goodness. People. You're blowing my mind. I got like, 47 emails in the span of less than twelve hours. My phone was having a panic attack! :) I never thought it'd be that fast. Thank you guys so much for the feedback! Its much appreciated! This is sort of a little filler for you guys while I write the next chapter of Night Terrors. That may not be up for a bit, seeing as I've two AP tests to get over first. Dx But, I wrote this in a lot of feels last night. It /is/ a one-shot, as is Air Conditioning, but per request I'll try and write a little more, but handling more than one story on a continuum is a bit nerve racking. So anyway. Rant over. :)_

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They'd always danced around each other. She'd ignored his advances, always giving him that sly little grin that insinuated she knew something he didn't.

It turned out she did.

"I do anything and everything that Mr Stark requires. Including, occasionally, taking out the trash."

A small smile appeared across her lips as she lay on the couch, looking up at the ceiling, chewing on her bottom lip. Completely unaware that he was watching.

They'd both come so far since then. She was no longer his personal assistant. He was no longer the man he'd hidden behind for so many years. Everything that had happened had changed that. There were, of course, still those things he couldn't explain. Those things that he knew had happened but just couldn't put his finger on. But she wiped all those doubts away. She reminded him that he was still very much human, that through everything he couldn't explain, there were so many things that he could.

"You done watching me?"

She still hadn't moved. She'd heard his heavy breaths, the breaths that always seemed to appear every time he was around her. It made her smile. To know that she did that to him. That just the very thought of her could quicken the beating of his heart. His completely /whole/ heart. One without a giant glowing arc reactor in his chest keeping him alive.

The world had ended and they were still around. They'd made it through.

In its own way it was sort of terrifying. To know that the end of the world would come again. That was inevitable. And the next time, whatever it was, would be much more ferocious that the first three times it had happened.

Surprisingly enough, she wasn't scared. At /all/. Maybe they'd save the world again. Maybe they wouldn't. She wasn't scared. She had him.

She had her Iron Man.

He was so much more than a man. He was a hero. /Her/ hero, and he meant more to her than he could really ever understand. "No." His voice in her ears as his arms wrapped around her waist caused her eyes to open. Crystalline blue met chocolate brown, a thin smile curling up onto her lips.

"And why not?"

Because he was never going to let her go. She was all she had. He was all he had. They were bound, in a fashion that anyone looking from the outside in could never understand. Total strangers to the best of friends. Employer and employee, creating a bond that was so fragile it could never be broken. Sure, he'd made his mistakes. She'd made hers, though his were always a tad more blatant. But those mistakes were what had brought them closer. That, and the amount of times he'd nearly died, and then when he thought she had died. Minor details. "Because I don't feel like it." Came the teasing reply, eliciting a laugh from the woman in his arms. He was beaming. He was so proud of her, and he wasn't sure if she knew how much she meant to him. And he wasn't sure if he could ever tell her.

But she knew. She knew the look in his eyes as he fell silent, an attribute he only possessed when he was really thinking. She could see it in his eyes as his lips pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head.

"Virginia Potts."

"Yes, Mr. Stark?"

"I love you."

"I love you too Tony."

_And I believe it all is gonna come down,  
Oh well, I guess, we're gonna find out  
Let's see how far we've come.  
Let's see how far we've come.  
And I believe it all is coming to an end,  
Oh well, I guess, we're gonna pretend.  
Let's see how far we've come.  
Let's see how far we've come._

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_And there it is folks! Please /please/ let me know what you think as itsthe first time I've ever written Tony. Well, I realise its not really writing Tony as this is a bit fluffy. Well. Its all flulff. Anyway, press that little review button please! And this is Potts, signing out for now! :)_


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